Atractaspis is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Atractaspidae, also known as the stiletto snakes. The genus is endemic to Africa and the Middle East. The genus contains 15 species that are recognized by ITIS. Others recognize as many as 21 species."Atractaspis ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Serpentes/colubroidea/lamprophiidae/Atractaspidinae.. www.reptile-database.org."Atractaspis ". Wikispecies. 23 are listed here.
Common names Common names for snakes of the genus Atractaspis include burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, stiletto snakes, side-stabbing snakes, side-stabbers. "Side stabbing" refers to the snakes' uncommon ability to strike with the side of its head and inject venom with one protruding fang.Spawls S, Branch B (1995). The Dangerous Snakes of Africa: Natural History, Species Directory, Venoms and Snakebite. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. .
Geographic range Species of the genus Atractaspis are found mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a limited distribution in the Jordan valley in Israel, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula.
Description Members of the genus Atractaspis share the following characteristics: Venom fangs enormously developed; a few teeth on the palatines, none on the pterygoids; mandibles edentulous anteriorly, with 2 or 3 very small teeth in the middle of the dentary bone. Postfrontal bone absent. Head small, not distinct from neck, covered with large symmetrical shields; nostril between 2 nasals; no loreal; eye minute, with round pupil. Body cylindrical; dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, in 17 to 37 rows; ventrals rounded. Tail short; subcaudals either single or in two rows.Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Atractaspis, pp. 510-511, Figure 36).
Species SpeciesTaxon author*Subspecies**Common nameGeographic rangeA. andersoniiBoulenger, 1905Oman, Yemen A. aterrimaGünther, 1863————slender burrowing aspAfrica: from Senegal and the Gambia east to DR Congo and Uganda.A. battersbyide Witte, 1959Battersby's burrowing aspAfrica: Bolobo, on the Congo River basin, DR Congo.A. bibroniiA. Smith, 1849bibronii rostrata Bibron's burrowing aspSouthern Africa, from central Namibia, east to northern South Africa, north to south-eastern DR Congo, eastern Tanzania, coastal Kenya, and extreme southern coastal Somalia.A. boulengeriMocquard, 1897matschiensis mixta schmidti schultzei vanderborghti Central African burrowing aspAfrica: the forests of the western Congo River basin.A. branchiRödel et al., 2019Branch's stiletto snakeAfrica: from Liberia to GuineaA. congicaW. Peters, 1877leleupi orientalis Congo burrowing aspAfrica: from the mouth of the Congo River south to Angola, south-eastern DR Congo and northern Zambia.A. corpulenta(Hallowell, 1854)kivuensis leucura fat burrowing aspAfrica: from Liberia to Ghana and from Nigeria eastwards to north-eastern DR Congo.A. dahomeyensisBocage, 1887————Dahomey burrowing aspAfrica: from southwestern Cameroon, north and west through Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, north-western Ivory Coast, south-western Burkina Faso and south-central Mali.A. duerdeniGough, 1907Duerden's burrowing aspAfrica in two isolated populations: one in north-central Namibia and one in south-eastern Botswana and northern South Africa.A. engaddensisHaas, 1950En-Gedi asp, alasawad alkhabithAsia: Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, LebanonA. engdahliLönnberg & Andersson, 1913————Engdahl's burrowing aspAfrica: southern Somalia and the lower Juba Valley northwest into northeastern Kenya.A. fallaxW. Peters, 1867Ethiopia, Kenya, SomaliaA. irregularis(J.T. Reinhardt, 1843)angeli bipostocularis conradsi parkeri uelensis variable burrowing aspAfrica: from Liberia to Ghana, from Nigeria east to Uganda, southern Sudan, and western and central Kenya, and south to north-eastern Tanzania, DR Congo and north-western Angola.A. leucomelasBoulenger, 1895————Ogaden burrowing aspAfrica: eastern Ethiopia, northwestern Somalia and Djibouti.A. magrettiiScortecci, 1928western Eritrea, northwestern Ethiopia, south-eastern SudanA. microlepidotaGünther, 1866 small-scaled burrowing aspAfrica: Senegal, Gambia, southern Mauritania, and western MaliA. micropholisGünther, 1872Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, NigeriaA. phillipsi Barbour, 1913south-eastern SudanA. reticulataSjöstedt, 1896brieni heterochilus reticulate burrowing aspCentral Africa: from southern Cameroon, east to eastern DR Congo and south to Angola.A. scortecciiParker, 1949————Somali burrowing aspAfrica: eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia.A. watsoniBoulenger, 1908Watson's burrowing aspBurkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal *) A taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Atractaspis. **) Not including the nominate subspecies.
See also Snakebite
References
Further reading Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus Atractaspis, pp. 61–62). Smith A (1849). Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa; Consisting Chiefly of Figures and Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History Collected during an Expedition into the Interior of South Africa, in the Years 1834, 1835, and 1836; Fitted out by "The Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa:" Together with a Summary of African Zoology, and an Inquiry into the Geographical Ranges of Species in that Quarter of the Globe. [Volume III. Reptilia]. London: Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury. (Smith, Elder and Co., printers). 78 plates + unnumbered pages of text. (Atractaspis, new genus. Plate 71).
External links
Stiletto snakes on Life is Short but Snakes are Long Side-stabbing stiletto snakes on Tetrapod Zoology